Posted - 05/31/2013 : 12:58:11 Most hockey fans have noticed that the final four teams in the playoffs are the last four cup winners.

And while it shouldn't be a surprise, the regular season conference winners (Pittsburgh and Chicago) are in the mix.

Finishing first in your conference does not guarantee playoff success though. It's a rare occurrence for the regular season conference winners to make it to the finals.

In the West, the regular season conference winner has only made it to the finals once in the past ten seasons – the Canucks in 2011, who lost to the Bruins in the finals that season.

The Eastern Conference winner has fared a bit better, with the regular season points leader making it to the finals 3 out of 10 times.

And when was the last time (both) the Eastern and Western conference leaders made it to the finals? You would have to go all the way back to 2001, when Colorado beat New Jersey in the finals.

As for repeat winners, the last team to win two cups in a row was Detroit, who did so in 1997 and 1998. LA has a chance to be a repeat winner, but they're only halfway there! (Halfway through the playoffs to be clear.)

But one of the remaining four teams will be a repeat winner of a different variety – not a back-to-back repeat winner, but a team which recently won a cup, which will do so for a second time in four years or less.

In the last nine seasons, there have been nine different cup winners, and interestingly, nine different teams have been the runner-up. (And only two of these runner-up teams – Detroit and Pittsburgh – won cups over this period of time.)

And who will it be this year? I think it's a toss up, but if you go by trends – it's been West, East, West, East, West the pass five seasons – an Eastern team is "due."

3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

Guest4377

Posted - 06/07/2013 : 20:24:21 With Boston's win over Pittsburgh tonight, we have a chance to see two "original six" teams in the Stanley Cup Finals, something we haven't seen since the Canadiens beat the Rangers in 1979!

And if the Hawks close out their series with the Kings, what's the record between these two teams (Bruins and Hawks) in the finals? Well, despite the fact these two teams have been in the NHL for nearly nine decades, they have never met in the finals!

Both teams have poor records in the finals. The Bruins are 6 for 18 in the finals all time, and the Hawks are 4 for 11. But this is meaningless. Rask, Chara, Krejci, etc. for the Bruins, and Crawford, Toews, Kane, etc. for the Hawks - they were no part of the finals in the vast majority of past finals.

It will all come down to who's the best team today, so if the Hawks knock off the Kings (the series is not over yet), I tbink it will be an incredible series between two teams who fully deserve to be in the finals, by their play the past 2-3 years, the past season, and the playoffs to date!

Alex116

Posted - 05/31/2013 : 16:11:46 Great post ya stubborn guest

It's nice to see those teams which had reg season success do well in the playoffs. I have to admit, i didn't like seeing an 8 seed win last year! Nice to have some parity, but i like to think the best teams prove it over the long haul and don't simply get hot at the right time, though that obviously helps a ton.

These conf finals should be good. I'm picking Pitts ad Chi (the favorites) to meet in the final but that might be influenced admittedly by my wants more than anything! I still have a hate-on for Boston and as much as i've hated everything the Hawks have done to the Canucks over the years, i think i respect their skill more than i respect the elements the Kings bring. I see the Kings as a team that benefits from the way the games are officiated in the postseason, more than most. Of course, a guy like Quick in net helps them too. He's def the best goalie of the 4 who're left!

fat_elvis_rocked

Posted - 05/31/2013 : 15:21:41 Nicely written and engaging post 4178! You really should think about signing up as others have mentioned, so we can put a 'face' to what are always enjoyable posts!

I am looking forward to the Conference finals this year more than most, because of the points you relayed, and also because in both series, we get to see two examples of strong offense vs. strong, crash and bang defense.

I am prognosticating(with more luck than skill), that we see examples of both schemes being successful, I think the West series has the crash and bangers from LA being too much for the vaunted Chicago offense, but in the East I think the Penguins have too much offense for the Bruins defense. It should be very exciting and there is a very good chance I may be off base....just not this year so far.